Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-03-05
SMOKING AMONG LADIES.
The Habit Becoming More and More
General i'm America.

1
|, A recent occidental statement made
by an authority wh0-- opportunity OF
observation leave, no dou6. 81 to lis
trutbfulness discloscs tnr: fact tina. ths
practice ~ smoking among An,erlcaii
ladies IS heaontiHg more and more
general Thc observer. who i a lady
OF tic highest standing in New York.
SAYS: More .hrnerican womeR smOke
cigarettes. and often cigars, than the
woTlt wots of Only few tcornings
ago sat ia TIE houdoir of one Of tho
best-kuown women ~ New York
society, lady whose natse is i
Synr-ym for everything that is woIEs'r-
Is and renIcS tn the outside world.
while she smobed C Sa."tte after cigar
ette with the utmost palacidit5. During
the morning three other ladies droppe9
IN, and two of them also produced
dainty cigarette-cascs and smoked with
entire cOt"p0sure, eiecting the curls OF
sri. oke into rings above their heads as
gra"s.ullr and perfectly - the most
expert smoker among men could DO.
know myself of SCORES Of our best New
York. Boston, and philadelphia ladies.
all my personal friends, who induig" IN
smoking, and whose names. if given to
the public, would cause astonishmeGt.
II is not pleasant To contemplate q con-
ditiOn of affairs as the above gives Us
excellent reason 10 believe exists to-
day among our American women.
Men smoke, and why should not wo-
men?' many have asked. Simply be-
cause there are thousand and one
things VIII ch, thought proper in men,
are entirely unbecOming to wOnen.
The asSoci.tion of tobacco with re-
fined lady is disagr6echle; it is not so
with the most polished genti.reu. 1t
is argued by some that in Spain, France
and Turkey and other European coun-
tries the women all smoke, and in pub
lie; these same people making this as
sertion have never for themelves seen
the class of women addicted to this use
of tobacco. In ike manner might we
conduct a foreigner to places in our
great cities where women can be found
continually smoking. but could such a
visitor return - his native land and
declare in truthfulness tkst the Ameri-
can lady smokes? We are aware that
in France especially the habit of smok~
ing among women is more general than
in America, but Likewise are many 9th
er habits which American mothers
would not care to associate with the
lives of their daughters or their lady
friends. If the custom of smoking
among American ladies is becoming
prevalent, it is one that can not be
otherwise than deeply deplored. No
wOman-and we weigh each word in
this statement-can be lady and adj
dicted TO smoking. The argument that
men smoke is no plausible reason for
women doing so. and no one possessed
OF any degree of common sense will
advance such comparison. There are
scores and hundreds of things that can
be properly associated with the more
commonplace nature of man, but when
connected with the delicate and refined
nature of woman they become widely
dissimilar. Tobacco was intended for
the use of men, and while it would be
infinitely better were it not used at all,
or used in much lesser quantities than
it is at present, the cigar or cigarette
is not unbecoming to the most perfect
gentleman. But when employed by
ladies, it is put to use for which it
was never intended. and the cigar in
the mouth of a woman becomes her as
much as would costly flag of the rich
est satin texture if placed on the be-
grimed mast of one Of the scows that
rid our cities of their superfluous mud
and filth. -BrOoEiyH Magazine.